Golf is a game with a long tradition that has become popular worldwide and on television.
While most many golf matches use the number of strokes as a way of scoring the game, an alternative is to use the number of holes won in a system called match play golf.
In traditional match play golf, players compete hole by hole, and the golfer who wins the most holes wins the match. Scoring is in match play match golf traditionally is rendered relationally, i.e., if player A has won 5 holes and player B has won 4 holes, the score is not 5 to 4, but rather 1-up for player A, or 1-down for player B. Essentially, match play scoring tells golfers and spectators not how many holes each golfer has won, but how many more holes than his opponent the golfer in the lead has won. If the match is tied, it is said to be “all square.”
Match play matches do not have to go the full 18 holes. They often do, but just as frequently one player will achieve an insurmountable lead and the match will end early. If, for instance, player A has a score of 6-up with 5 holes to play, player A has clinched the victory, and the match is over.
The final score is reported as 1 up if it went the full 18 holes, or else 2 and 1, 3 and 2, etc. to reflect the fact that the winner was 2 games up with one hole to play or 3 games up with 2 holes to play.
There are numerous formats for team match-play tournaments, only a few of which are typically used in televised tournaments, including the popular “skins” format and the format used in the Ryder cup tournament.
A “skins game” is a golf betting game that pits members of a foursome (or threesome or twosome) against each other in a type of match play. Each hole carries a value, and the winner of the hole wins that amount. Ties, or halves, result in the bet amount being carried over to the following hole, adding to the pot.
When a player wins a hole, they've won the “skin.” Professional skins games are ubiquitous, having grown since the debut of the Skins Game in 1983 (Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom Watson were the original participants).
Because of carryovers, pro skins games often result in a single hole being worth tens—even hundreds—of thousands of dollars (of course, the pros are playing for someone else's money).
The most watched match play golf event is, however, is the Ryder cup, which is a team event. The Ryder Cup is a competition between two teams, the USA and Europe, which, since 1981, has the form of a 3-day event with four foursomes and four fourballs on both days 1 and 2, and 12 singles matches on day 3, for a total of 28 possible points.
In fourballs matchplay, each side consists of two players. Each player plays his or her own ball throughout the round. On each hole, the low ball of the two players serves as that side's score. For example, on the first hole for Team A, Player 1 scores a 4 and Player 2 scores a 5, so the team score is 4. If Team A gets a 4 while Team B scores 5, then Team A wins the hole.
In foursomes, 2-person teams play against each other, with each team playing one ball, alternate shot. Example: Player A and Player B are partners. On the first hole, A tees off; B plays the second shot; A plays the third shot; and so on until the ball is holed. The lower of the two teams' scores win the hole.
In the Ryder cup, as in most tournaments, the winning team or individual in any one match, whatever the format, scores one tournament point, the loser gets none, and in a tied match both score half a point. The tournament points are awarded independently of how closely the match was contested, and the team that has the most points at the end of the event, wins the tournament.